WHYY-FM (90.9 FM, "91 FM") is a public FM radio station licensed to serve Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its broadcast tower is located in the city's Roxborough neighborhood at (40°02?30.9?N 75°14?21.9?W), while its studios and offices are located on Independence Mall in Center City, Philadelphia. The station, owned by WHYY, Inc., is a charter member of National Public Radio (NPR) and contributes several programs to the national network.
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History
WHYY signed on the air on December 14, 1954, owned by the Metropolitan Philadelphia Educational Radio and Television Corporation. It was the first broadcasting station in Philadelphia devoted solely to education. In 1957, it added a sister television station, Channel 35 WHYY-TV. In 1963, when WHYY-TV moved from Channel 35 in Philadelphia to Channel 12 in Wilmington, Delaware, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations in effect at the time forced the radio station to change its call sign to WUHY. It regained its original call sign in 1983.
When NPR was formed in 1970, the station became a charter member and was one of the 90 stations that carried the initial broadcast of All Things Considered.
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Programs produced
- NPR: Fresh Air with Terry Gross, a Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Nearly 4.5 million people listen to the broadcast on more than 450 National Public Radio stations across the country, as well as in Europe on the World Radio Network. The program originated in 1975 as a local show before going national in 1987.
- NewsWorks Tonight, a weekday daily program highlighting important news, events, and stories from WHYY's coverage area of Southeastern PA, Delaware, and Southern NJ.
- Radio Times With Marty Moss-Coane, a daily two-hour program that tackles wide range of issues.
- You Bet Your Garden, an organic gardening call-in talk show hosted by Mike McGrath.
- Voices in the Family Dr. Dan Gottlieb, psychologist and family therapist, along with guest experts, opens the line to callers to discuss issues that affect individuals and society, with special focus on family issues. The show airs weekly on Monday mornings. Its executive producer is Maiken Scott, WHYY's Behavioral Health Reporter.
- The Pulse a show that focuses on stories at the heart of health, science and innovation in the Philadelphia region. The show is hosted by WHYY's Behavioral Health Reporter Maiken Scott.
Format change
Until 1990, WHYY served the region as a non-commercial station with a format that featured mostly classical music with some jazz and folk music. The management decision to establish a news/talk radio format was a departure from the classical music that most public radio stations were programming. The format switch resulted in protests from many of the station's listening audience who were among WHYY's major contributors. Temple University's WRTI (90.1 FM) began programming classical music during the day to serve the displaced listeners.
CEO controversy
Controversy erupted in the summer of 2007 when station Chief Executive Officer Bill Marrazzo was cited by the watchdog group Charity Navigator as the highest paid CEO in all of public broadcasting.
In an August 2007 article, popular Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Karen Heller called for a boycott of WHYY. And in September 2007 an anonymous group of WHYY employees sent an open letter to Marrazzo, the Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia magazine, accusing him of "a serious lack of understanding when it comes to creating ... a healthy workplace" and assailing his salary as "excessive and inappropriate." The five-page letter concluded with a call for Marrazzo to resign.
New Jersey expansion and controversy
On June 6, 2011, the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority agreed to sell five FM stations in Southern New Jersey to WHYY. The purchase was made through an anonymous one-million dollar grant and a non-cash agreement that included scholarships for students and teachers. The five stations were previously the southern portion of the New Jersey Network's statewide radio service.
The transaction was announced by Governor Chris Christie, as part of his long-term goal to end state-subsidized public broadcasting. The governor's critics maintained that scrapping New Jersey Network effectively ended all non-commercial statewide news coverage. It was also noted that the sale eliminated a source of legislative oversight frequently critical of the Christie administration.
WHYY assumed control of the stations through a management agreement on July 1, 2011, pending FCC approval for the acquisition. At that point, the stations began to simulcast WHYY-FM programming. The five stations are:
The stations all operate at relatively modest power due to the crowded state of the FM dial in the northeastern United States. However, their combined footprint gives WHYY-FM listeners coverage from Berks County to the Jersey Shore.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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